So, tickets are booked, car sold, first trip to Chicago already booked, what next? Well as it turns out, a load of boring shit that fills the gap before any fun stuff happens. One thing I have learnt about growing older is that for whatever reason, there is never an end to the list of things that I should be doing. As I write this, I literally remembered something I should have done, and have instantly forgot about it, an itch in my brain that will continue to be scratched, and one that will end in possibly the dullest ‘Aha’ moment in history.
Anyway, I digress. Which kind of sums it up. Adult life is full of digressions, or digressions are occasionally filled with adult life, I’m not entirely sure. But either way, the things we tend to enjoy are just so regularly interrupted by chores, that I’m not sure we ever learn to fully appreciate the fun stuff till we are completely away from everything. And as a result, I am adding something to the bucket list; For at least 8 days this next three months, of which at least 4 of them have to be in a row, I want to completely [aforementioned itch just lived up to its ‘Aha moment, in case you were curious] disconnect myself from the ‘grid’. No phone, no lists, no internet, no Facebook, no Whatsapp, or any of the million other ways to be reminded of what I’ve forgotten to do. I think I have my new favourite addition to the list.
As I spent the last couple of days with my parents, said goodbye to them before setting about my travels, I couldn’t help but feel so lucky to have parents like them. And I’m sure everyone feels that way about theirs, I know Sonam does with hers, but I think it’s a mixture of gratitude and confusion; “How do you care so much, and give so much at each an every opportunity, with so little expected in return?” As the guy who spends so long avoiding things on his to-do lists to try and fill it with fun stuff, I can’t see myself giving up things on my to-do lists to go visit someone else too lazy to get on with their to-do list, but help him finish it anyway. But I guess I’ll never know, not really, until I’m a parent myself. Still, pretty irrationally awesome.
Another element of my past few days has been the sheer speed of regression into a student slob. I have been alone at home for just under two weeks, and until my parents happened to intervene and visit, my days were like that of a slightly older Macauley Caulkin in Home Alone, staying up till all hours watching terribly made TV, eating one meal a day because, well that really wasn’t a priority when you’re too busy playing Playstation, regressing a year for every hour that you play on that thing, mentally crossing off ‘non-essential’ items off that list I mentioned earlier as a friend decides to give you a call to catch up, and before you know it you have a bin bag full of two weeks of takeaway, a sink of just knives and spoons, and a strange jet lag seemingly impossible to get when you haven’t even left your postcode, never mind time zone. All I can say, is that the cliché of being left alone by your other half is true. Its ability to regress you so rapidly is kind of fun, for a while, till you find yourself in a Poker room at 2 am just because you can. And as much as I enjoyed having a little dabble at poker, mostly because I haven’t played in years, I quickly got bored of the setting, and scurried on home. As much as some people love that life, I left with a sense of relief, not only because I left that room of sharks with my money intact, but a realization that I really couldn’t wait for my domesticated life of having a fiancé, a meal that involved talking to another person, a rough bed time, more meals than just ‘Brunchinner’ (if it’s not a word, it should be) and for those meals to be had on plates.
Anyway, I digress. Which kind of sums it up. Adult life is full of digressions, or digressions are occasionally filled with adult life, I’m not entirely sure. But either way, the things we tend to enjoy are just so regularly interrupted by chores, that I’m not sure we ever learn to fully appreciate the fun stuff till we are completely away from everything. And as a result, I am adding something to the bucket list; For at least 8 days this next three months, of which at least 4 of them have to be in a row, I want to completely [aforementioned itch just lived up to its ‘Aha moment, in case you were curious] disconnect myself from the ‘grid’. No phone, no lists, no internet, no Facebook, no Whatsapp, or any of the million other ways to be reminded of what I’ve forgotten to do. I think I have my new favourite addition to the list.
As I spent the last couple of days with my parents, said goodbye to them before setting about my travels, I couldn’t help but feel so lucky to have parents like them. And I’m sure everyone feels that way about theirs, I know Sonam does with hers, but I think it’s a mixture of gratitude and confusion; “How do you care so much, and give so much at each an every opportunity, with so little expected in return?” As the guy who spends so long avoiding things on his to-do lists to try and fill it with fun stuff, I can’t see myself giving up things on my to-do lists to go visit someone else too lazy to get on with their to-do list, but help him finish it anyway. But I guess I’ll never know, not really, until I’m a parent myself. Still, pretty irrationally awesome.
Another element of my past few days has been the sheer speed of regression into a student slob. I have been alone at home for just under two weeks, and until my parents happened to intervene and visit, my days were like that of a slightly older Macauley Caulkin in Home Alone, staying up till all hours watching terribly made TV, eating one meal a day because, well that really wasn’t a priority when you’re too busy playing Playstation, regressing a year for every hour that you play on that thing, mentally crossing off ‘non-essential’ items off that list I mentioned earlier as a friend decides to give you a call to catch up, and before you know it you have a bin bag full of two weeks of takeaway, a sink of just knives and spoons, and a strange jet lag seemingly impossible to get when you haven’t even left your postcode, never mind time zone. All I can say, is that the cliché of being left alone by your other half is true. Its ability to regress you so rapidly is kind of fun, for a while, till you find yourself in a Poker room at 2 am just because you can. And as much as I enjoyed having a little dabble at poker, mostly because I haven’t played in years, I quickly got bored of the setting, and scurried on home. As much as some people love that life, I left with a sense of relief, not only because I left that room of sharks with my money intact, but a realization that I really couldn’t wait for my domesticated life of having a fiancé, a meal that involved talking to another person, a rough bed time, more meals than just ‘Brunchinner’ (if it’s not a word, it should be) and for those meals to be had on plates.
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